There were cries at the Old Bailey as Tony McCluskie was found guilty while he remained emotionless.

McCluskie, who had admitted manslaughter, was told he would serve a minimum of 20 years.

The window cleaner had battered his sister over the head and hacked her body into pieces using a cleaver and knife.

Other close relatives gave heartrending details of how the family had been left devastated.

But McCluskie’s father Anthony pledged not to desert his son.

He said: “The circumstances surrounding Gemma’s death have had a great impact on my life both physically and mentally, and although in great sorrow, I have to remain strong for my son Danny and his wife, my wife, and my grandchildren.

“I also know that my son Tony Jnr is suffering too. I will not desert him even though he has committed this terrible crime and taken Gemma’s life.

“I hope and pray that one day Tony will be released from prison with a better understanding of his actions.”

“I force myself to go to work when I would rather be at home trying to protect my husband.”

Gemma’s brother Danny said he had just become a dad before the murder, but his family’s happy life turned into “an unimaginable nightmare”.

He added: “Gemma is the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing on our minds as we try to sleep at night.

“Our mother is completely inconsolable, she breaks down every day and tells me Gemma was her life and she doesn’t want to live anymore without her.

“I don’t know how to begin to make her feel better. I try to remind her that we love her and she needs to stay strong for her granddaughter.” The prosecution said McCluskie, 36, a skunk cannabis addict, killed his sister after she asked him to leave the flat they shared in Shoreditch, east London.

The final straw came when McCluskie left taps on and a sink overflowed.

The day after killing Gemma, 29, McCluskie lugged a heavy suitcase to a cab firm and was last seen taking it towards the Regent’s Canal, London.

Gemma’s torso was found a week later when the case snapped open, and her limbs were found in black bags a week after. Her head was discovered in the water six months later.

The actress, who played Kerry Skinner in 2001, was immediately missed. Her brother joined searches to find her but scientists found blood in the bathroom.

Denying murder, McCluskie told the court: “She came up the stairs, she was shouting ‘Are you gonna go?’.

“She was standing there with a knife in her hand. All I remember is just grabbing her wrists. After that I have no recollection.”